Gebrselassie Misses Olympic Qualifier

Haile Gebrselassie will not head to London this summer. Photo: The Age.au

He’s not heading to London.

Some sad news for Haile Gebrselassie fans: The former marathon world-record holder is not heading to the 2012 Olympics in London. At the Hengelo 10,000m event in the Netherlands, which served as the Ethiopian Olympic Trials, the 39-year-old could only muster a seventh-place showing.

“The Games in London, is over for me,” he lamented.

“I ran a good race till the last lap. I felt good but I manifestly didn’t have the speed to compete against my rivals. That’s life. I am not disappointed,” he added.

Gebrselassie was defeated by Kenenisa Bekele’s younger brother, Tariku, who clocked 27 minutes, 11.7 seconds. Second place went to Ethiopia’s Desisa Benti. The third slot on the Ethiopian Olympic team is being held in reserve for Kenenisa Bekele, although he has been plagued by a persistent calf injury.

“I haven’t in any case run on the track since the Beijing Games [2008],” Gebrselassie said. “Ethiopia will be stronger in London.”

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about